09/03/2018 DAB Transcript

Today is the 3rd
day of September. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian. It is great to
be here with you as it is every single day. And we had a fantastic time at the
Daily Audio Bible Family Reunion which has taken place the last couple of days
here in the rolling hills of Tennessee. So, I wish all of you family that came
to the Family Reunion safe travels back to your homes and I pray that your
heart is as full as ours. Was so good to see your faces. But let’s go ahead and
turn our focus and attention on to what it is we have come here to do, which is
to take the next step forward in the Scriptures this year. And this week we’ve
been reading from the Modern English Version. And we’ll pick up in the book of Ecclesiastes
where we left off yesterday. Chapter 4:1 - 6: 12 today.

Commentary:

Alright. So, in
the book of Ecclesiastes today, we continue to consider Solomon’s observations
on the futility of life on earth basically. So, it seems. I mean, he seems to
be willing to say out loud the things that we feel at times inside, but we
wouldn’t say them out loud because it wouldn’t seem grateful and it wouldn’t
feel like it meshes with our favorite verses of prosperity and victory. So, is
there any reason for this to be in the Bible? Is this depressing monologue
getting us somewhere? Actually it is. And we understand that these are the
words coming from the pen, or whatever he wrote it with, of a person who had
achieved everything, right? Success, pleasure, power beyond the wildest of our
dreams. And we understand that, we begin to understand that what we’re being
given here is cautionary wisdom. Because we pursue things and pursue things and
pursue things and Solomon had achieved everything. And he’s looking back and
saying essentially, you have to enjoy what you have when you have it while you
are here. Spending your life in pursuit of one specific outcome, even if you
get there, it will not be enough. So, let’s just survey the wisdom that we were
given today. Solomon said, I saw that most people are motivated to success
because they envy their neighbors. This is meaningless. It’s chasing the wind.
Or Solomon said, as you enter the house of God, keep your ears open and your
mouth closed. It’s evil to make mindless offerings to God. Or he says, too much
activity gives you restless dreams, too many words make you a fool. Or he says,
it’s better to say nothing than to make a promise and not keep it. He also
says, we all reach the end of our lives as naked and empty-handed as on the day
we were born. We can’t take riches with us. So,, to enjoy your work and accept
your lot in life, this is indeed a gift from God. God keeps such people so busy
enjoying life that they have no time to brute over the past. He also says,
enjoy what you have rather desiring what you don’t. Dreaming about nice things
is meaningless. It’s chasing the wind. So, Solomon is telling us one of the
things about our human lives that we most learn is to be here now because you
won’t be here when you’re not. Don’t wait until it’s too late to be here and
enjoy here because right now is a gift. And if we’re never here because all
were doing is pursuing something out there, some kind of achievement or ladder
that we are trying to climb, then we’re never really here at all. We’re always somewhere
else. Somewhere else out in front of ourselves, hoping to achieve the next
thing when right here is the gift.

Prayer:

And so, Father
we invite your Holy Spirit into that because it affects us on a number of
levels, in a number of ways. It’s disruptive, as it was intended to be. We
invite your Holy Spirit to come, now, into this moment that we might walk with
you moment by moment, presently, in what is actually happening, understanding
that the fact that we get to take the next breath is a gift. And when we’re
never here because we’re always chasing something else out front of us or we’re
always regretting something behind us, than were never really here. Being here
is the gift. So, come Holy Spirit, we pray. In Jesus name we ask. Amen.